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Monday, May 10, 2010

I hope all the moms and mom-like people out there had a nice Mother's Day! I sure did! The kids planned the morning secretly and I honestly had no clue what they were up to. I went to church with Brooklyn, Lexington, and Jackson while the other three stayed home. Savannah had slipped Jackson some money before I left for church so Jackson could buy me a corsage. (My church always sells these for Mother's Day.)

He gave it to me and said, "I know you don't really like flowers, but here." Yes, yes, I admit that I don't really like flowers. It's not that I dislike them. I'm just not big on them. I'd rather that people not spend money on something that's going to die in a few days. And if you give me a plant, I'll just end up killing it within a month. Really. I kill air plants. They just need air! I kill them. Yeah.

But, even though I'm not overly fond of flowers, I love, love, LOVE the thought behind them and that's what counts. So I pinned on my corsage and wore it proudly.

When I got home, I walked in the door to see the table set with a pink tablecloth. Clay had set the table while Savannah made French toast, cheesy eggs, and crescent rolls. How sweet are they? Austin slept the whole time. Five out of six isn't bad, right?

We had breakfast and then I told the kids that for Mother's Day, I wanted them to cooperate and let me take some pictures of them. I loaded up the kids and drove them out to a little wooded area a few towns over where I snapped some pictures.

They were awesome and let me take over 200 photos! Yeah, I know; it's a sickness.

We ended the evening with grilled chicken I sort of, a little bit, burned and a Dairy Queen run to make up for the sort of, little bit, burned chicken and peppers. I went to sleep with a smile on my face because I'm so blessed to be called "Mom" by six awesome kids.

But alas, payback was just around the corner.

Today, Clayton and Brooklyn, my partners in crime mischief, made up for being so good yesterday. While I was talking on the phone and sifting through paperwork in my room, they were making themselves a snack.

"Mom, can Brooklyn and me have a waffle?"

"Sure. Do you need help?" Stupid question. Stupid. Yes, of course, they need help! You always go help them in the kitchen. Always. Those two are not to be trusted around any kind of small appliances. Or utensils. Or food. Or condiments. Or toiletries. Okay, basically, you just can't trust them and you are stupid if you choose to ignore that fact.

I was stupid.

I heard the water running full-blast in the kitchen sink.

"Turn off the water, guys! Hey! Clayton and Brooklyn! Turn off the water if you're done with it! Hello?! TURN IT OFF!"

I walked out to the kitchen to see the water running into the sink. No kids were in sight. I started heading in the direction of the giggles only to stop dead in my tracks.

Yeah, that's a waffle covered in half a pound of sugar. It's also a full cup of some nutritional supplement I've had in the fridge for years. I bought it to give Jackson some extra calories back when he was on medication that curbed his appetite big time. He thought it tasted like sewer water and so it sat in the fridge. Until today.

Not quite sure what prompted them to pour soapy water on the plate o' sugar.

I was too angry at this point, to take pictures of the floor. And besides, I could hear the bathtub faucet turn on, so I slammed down my camera and took off for the bathroom. Four kitchen towels were dripping wet in the bathroom sink. A pile of discarded clothes was on the floor. The two hooligans were climbing into the tub. I remained calm and collected as always as I gently asked, "WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU TWO DOING?!!! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! DID YOU REALLY THINK IT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO DUMP HALF A POUND OF POWDERED SUGAR ON THE TABLE AND FLOOR? WHAT'S WITH THE KITCHEN SINK OVERFLOWING? WHY THE WET TOWELS IN HERE? WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?????"

To which, I received my standard answer. "I dunno."

Deep breaths, Dawn, deep breaths. I threw my hands up and ran back to my computer where I pulled up these pictures from yesterday.

Clearly, this is why God makes little kids so darn cute. So we don't kill them.

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Look at it this way: it's _only_ cleaning up and done in a few minutes (if you aren't the superduper antibacterial type, ;-). Ever since I started to make that clear to myself (like a mantra: "it's only cleaning up, it's only cleaning up") I'm much calmer about my kids doing stuff in the kittchen... Actually, they've become quite good, too.

Congrats on a beautiful and wonderful mother's day - after this past year, you definitely deserved it. And I'm glad the kids figured it out on their own without dad around to remind them!

I can't believe how big they're all getting! Austin is a spitting image of Joe; Savannah, Jackson, and Lexi are mini yous!!

My friend told me recently (we both just had our first) that God made babies' smiles so danged cute so that it made up for the miserable waking up in the middle of the night and chronic tired state we moms walk around in all the time. I can't be mad at her for keeping me up when she grins that big toothless grin at me for feeding and changing her in the middle of the night :)

Heehee.... I get so excited when I see a new post from you. Your family cracks me up. This is why we blog. And, BTW, I alwaystell that to my kids. They are lucky they're cute, or they'd be on the front porch with the FREE sign on them. :)

They are adorable, I'll give them that, but...what about consequences for their actions? I know they are pretty young, but I'm a firm believer that you are never to young to learn to pick up your own messes. It tends to lessen the amount of them in the future. My husband has learned the hard way, yelling at the kids does absolutely nothing, kids are impervious to it. Good luck my dear!

What a super sweet Mother's Day! And 200 pictures, with even 4 that turned out great enough to post? Impressive!

I don't read through all of your comments normally, but one kind of stuck out today. I wanted to ask you -- do you get a LOT of parenting critiques, er, advice in your comments? Do people really think that's helpful?

I've been in awe of you for a long time, and personally, I think that it comes through that you're doing the best that you can -- and that your best is better than a *lot* of moms with fewer kids, a husband, and who *aren't* writing books while they're at it.

You could make some extra $$$ on the side doing photography! Those pics are awesome!

Oh, and like Much More Than A Mommy..., I am also shocked that someone would critique your parenting skills. Especially since you didn't even mention the followup from the incident. I give you huge kudos for being able to handle all those kids on your own and keeping your cool in these situations!

Reminds me when I found my first Son sitting on the kitchen floor in a mucky mess of sugar,flour,all my spices and westershire sauce&crico oil.He looked up and said "look Mama I cooking"..UGH. I feel your pain/love after 5 kids in 3 decades,70's-80's-90's. You do take awesome photos.

At least the things they spilled were easy to clean up with water and soap? I came home Sunday noight to a hubby complaining that the load of wash coming out of the washer smelt weird. Upon futher investigation I noted that it smelled like paint or some kind of chemical. My dear sweet 3 yr old got mad at one of the big kids who told him not to do something and threw a gallon of oil based urethane hubby bought to refinish the swingset and the lid came off. My 10 yr old cleaned it up with several towels, my 18 yr old was not paying attention and just threw all the light clothes in the washer, there by spreading it all over the load of wash. I threw out 7 bath towels and a few smaller items. Now the washer drain line is not working, so I am draining the washer into my large mop bucket. Time to call the plumber, again...

Funny, when my Kiddo does naughty things I say to myself. "You are not a lioness, you may not kill the kiddo." This was especially true the day I found my new $40 kiss proof/eat proof/ nuclear blast proof lipstick on her bedroom floor open. Good thing her floor was covered in toys. Heaps easier to toss a bear than clean a carpet. *Big Hugs*Be goodBelinda in Brisbane Australia.

Oh, that is so cute (the pics!). Love the black and white one. I'm glad you had a nice Mother's Day. And believe it or not, sometimes, I also refrain from going off on a child just because they are so damn cute! LOL. So I kiss them instead of yelling, and that really helps to dissipate my anger and frustration. :)